


Family Reunions

by TakingOverMidnight3482



Series: Julie and the Phantoms One-Shots: Ghostly Mishaps [10]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Family, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Group Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, alex has a sister, and she is absolutely a lesbian, post season one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:21:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26726593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TakingOverMidnight3482/pseuds/TakingOverMidnight3482
Summary: Stephanie had a hard time remembering Alex’s face. The only images she had were the obituary in the paper, which she couldn’t bring herself to look at, and the CD insert, which she didn’t touch too often for fear of ripping the 25 year old paper.His voice, though, was always fresh in her mind.So when her son, Alexander, was watching YouTube at the kitchen table, and she heard his voice clear as day – on a song thatwasn’t his– she froze mid-dishes. Soap running down her wrists and dripping off her elbows uncomfortably, Stephanie leaned her ear in the direction of her son’s laptop.“Whatever happens even if I’m the last standing I’mma stand tall, I’mma stand tall-”
Series: Julie and the Phantoms One-Shots: Ghostly Mishaps [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925116
Comments: 74
Kudos: 1182





	Family Reunions

**Author's Note:**

> Falls in line with the fics "Like Family" and "What to Do When Your Best Friend's Ghost Bassist Comes Out to You." But it's not necessary to read those first to understand this. 
> 
> Forewarning: the third person perspective kind of jumps around a little towards the end. I wrote this pretty late, and honestly I couldn't find a way to re-word it without just rewriting five or six pages entirely, which I didn't want to do lol. Hope you like!
> 
> Note: Ray and Carlos are both aware of the guys, and I've pretty much adopted the headcanon that rooms get just a touch chillier when the ghosts show up, so they can usually tell when one of them is there.

Sometimes when she was having a low mental day, Stephanie Amelia Mercer would pull out the Demo CD that her brother had given her almost exactly a week before he’d been kicked out of the house. Six months before he’d died, and left her alone with her parents. She’d listen to the first track on repeat, because his solo in Now or Never was the most he sang alone on the whole track.

Stephanie had been twelve when Alex died. Almost thirteen. He’d promised to come home for her birthday, sneak in when her parents were asleep to give her a present. It had never happened.

Her parents had gotten rid of most of the things that belonged to him – photos, mementos, test results, art projects, stuffed animals. They did it without telling Stephanie.

All she had left of him was a single, dark pink hoodie that had been worn with age, a set of drumsticks that he’d left behind in the garage that she found when she was moving to college, and the CD he’d giddily given to her the night it had been recorded. The drumsticks were displayed proudly on her fireplace mantel, rainbow ribbons tied around the bottom, and the CD never left her bedside table. The sweatshirt, which she was too nervous to wear anymore, stayed stored safely in her closet.

Stephanie had a hard time remembering her brother’s face. The only images she had were the obituary in the paper, which she couldn’t bring herself to look at, and the CD insert, which she didn’t touch too often for fear of ripping the 25 year old paper.

His voice, though, was always fresh in her mind.

So when her son, Alexander, was watching YouTube at the kitchen table, and she heard his voice clear as day – on a song that _wasn’t his_ – she froze mid-dishes. Soap running down her wrists and dripping off her elbows uncomfortably, Stephanie leaned her ear in the direction of her son’s laptop.

_“Whatever happens even if I’m the last standing I’mma stand tall, I’mma stand tall-”_

She would have shaken it off if the next voice hadn’t been Reggie’s. She couldn’t remember his or Luke’s voices quite as well, despite listening to their CD at least once a month – she was never really listening for them. They’d always been kind to her, but they weren’t her brother. She tended to tune them out. But, surrounded by her brother’s voice, she could suddenly hear theirs, clear as day.

The plate she was cleaning slipped from her fingers, shattering on the floor as she turned.

Alexander jumped, clicking the space bar out of reflex as he stared up at his mother in surprise. “Mom?” he managed. His eyes flickered to the broken glass and he stood carefully. “Mom, are you okay?”

Stephanie shook herself out of it fast when he took a step towards her, his socked feet catching her eyes. “Fine, fine baby. Don’t come closer, I-I’ll clean it up in a second.”

Alexander froze and watched as his mother traversed the broken glass quickly, grateful she’d decided to wear her flip flops while she was cleaning. She reached his side and nodded to his computer. “What’re you listening to baby?”

Alexander looked from his mother to the broken glass to the computer and back with furrowed eyebrows. Despite barely being nine years old, Stephanie sometimes felt like he read her like an open book. He didn’t comment on her sudden weirdness, instead turning to his laptop and picking it up so she could get a closer look. “My friend Justin sent it to me. It’s this cool band from LA called Julie and the Phantoms. The guys in it are holograms. They played at The Orpheum last week, which Justin says is a huge deal.”

Stephanie swallowed and took the laptop from Alexander with trembling hands, studying the screen. The camera had stopped on a sweep of the audience, so she pressed the space bar and the song started blaring from the speakers again, clearly at the end. The camera panned back to the stage in time to follow the lead singer, a dark young woman in a very sparkly dress, down the runway.

At her side was Luke.

She remembered the faces of Luke and Reggie even less than her brother, but right there, right in front of her, singing so clearly? It was him. It was definitely him.

The drumming stopped in the song, as did the bass, and she was both not surprised and about to pass out when down the runway, each holding a microphone, came Alex and Reggie. She set the laptop down before she could drop it too and pressed pause again just as the band members lifted their hands.

“Mom?” Alexander said quietly, making her jump. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Stephanie couldn’t tear her eyes away from her brother’s face. It hadn’t aged a day which…made sense. He was smiling, cheeks flushed, looking so… _alive._

The front door opened and shut, and Alexander bolted. “Mama!” he yelped. “Something’s wrong with Mom!”

Quick, anxious sounding French echoed from the front room, and then her wife was rushing in, setting the grocery bags down on the counter. Alexander appeared in the door, clinging to two year old Sophia with concern, and watched silently.

Claire approached her with clear worry on her face. Stephanie couldn’t imagine how she looked – shaking, clinging to the back of the kitchen chair, staring at the laptop, probably looking like she was about to puke. “Love?” Claire whispered, setting a gentle hand on her shoulder and squeezing. “Everything all right?”

Stephanie’s lip started quivering. “I-I-I have to go to LA,” were the first words out of her mouth, not that she intended for them to be.

She could feel Claire frown in confusion. “What’s wrong? Is it your parents?”

That brought Stephanie back to Earth, and she scowled. “No,” she said firmly, looking back at her wife. She hadn’t spoken to her parents since she was old enough to legally move out at 18. They hadn’t met their grandchildren, nor had they wanted to, knowing that Stephanie was married to a woman. “No, it’s…”

She looked back at the screen and turned it just slightly, drawing Claire’s attention to it. The woman stared for a moment, and then her jaw slipped and she grabbed for the computer, lifting it practically to her face, her glasses sliding down her nose.

She’d only seen Alex’s face from the CD cover, but Claire had a talent for remembering faces. She stared longer than even Stephanie had before lowering the laptop and looking over at her. A couple of strands of her dark, curly hair had fallen into her eyes, and Stephanie gave in to the urge to brush them behind her ears. “He looks just like-”

“I know,” Stephanie whispered, her heart thudding. “I know, it’s insane, i-it’s _more_ than insane, b-but i-if he-”

Claire’s hands lifted to her cheeks and cupped them there, and Stephanie finally realized that she was crying when her wife’s thumbs dragged the tears away. “I get it. I get it, baby. When do you want to go?”

Stephanie breathed out a shuddering sigh and pressed their foreheads together. She jumped a little when tiny arms wrapped tight around her waist, only to look down and find Alexander clinging to her, looking worried. She glanced to the side, just to make sure that Sophia was safely away from the broken glass – she was – and reached down to stroke his hair out of his face. “Are you leaving?” Alexander asked, his bright green eyes glassy with worry.

Stephanie knelt and kissed his forehead. “No, no, baby. We’re…we’re all gonna go on a vacation, okay? Back to where Mom was born. Think that’d be fun?”

Alexander’s look was suspicious, but when he seemed to realize that she was telling the truth, he smiled, a gap toothed grin. “Yeah! When are we going?”

Stephanie glanced up at Claire, who was already tapping around some airline sites. “He does have spring break next week. Monday? Is that enough time for you?”

A smile quirked on Claire’s face and she barely looked up. “Honey, I’m a lawyer. I can do most of my work from home anyway, and I don’t have any cases until the end of March that I have to be present for. All I need is the okay and I’ll book the tickets now.”

Stephanie looked at her son, at her brother’s namesake. She took a breath.

“Okay. Book them.”

~~

Flying with kids was exhausting, even if one of them was the very definition of an angel. As much as Stephanie wanted to track down the “Julie” of Julie and the Phantoms, she knew both she and Claire (and the kids) were exhausted from the flight.

Sophia went down more easily than she ever had for a nap, while Alexander curled up in bed with headphones and his iPad, watching an episode of _The Babysitter’s Club_ on Netflix. Stephanie sat down on her bed for the next week and a half and sighed, burying her head in her hands. Only a few moments passed before a gentle hand was rubbing her back, the bed dipping next to her. “Nervous?” Claire asked quietly.

Stephanie huffed and dropped her hands, holding one out to lace with Claire’s. “You could say that,” she snorted. “What if I’m going insane?”

Claire hummed, leaning her head on Stephanie’s temple. Her hair was loose, and it tickled her cheeks. “You’re not. And if you are, then so am I. The news article I read about the show said the guys were ‘a band from another country,’ so it’s not like she just happened to pick your brother’s image off the internet at chance.”

She paused for a moment before speaking again. “Do you know how to find her?”

Stephanie sighed, rubbing her eyes. “No,” she muttered. “She’s a kid, I can’t go creeping around for her address. That’s just wrong. I thought maybe I’d try the Patterson’s. Maybe they’ve seen the performance.”

“Luke’s family?” Claire remembered. “They called the other week, right? To wish Alexander happy birthday.”

Stephanie smiled. “Yeah. They did.” She sighed, suddenly exhausted. “That’s my best place to start. I’m not going to my parents, that’s for sure.”

Claire hummed and kissed her on the temple, letting her lips linger. “I’ll take the kids to the beach. Unless you want me there.”

“No,” Stephanie said, squeezing her wife’s hand tightly. “But thank you. I love you.”

“Love you too, baby.”

~~

Julie and Alex were in the middle of working out a complicated drum and piano melody in the garage, Luke and Reggie doing riffs in the corner with Flynn giving commentary, when the sound of the doorbell echoed across the yard to the garage.

The group froze – though Carlos and Ray were aware of the guys’ presence now, no one else was, and Julie wasn’t about to get caught rocking out with her supposed hologram band by a stranger.

From Flynn’s sudden blink, Julie could tell the guys had vanished. The girls looked at one another, then at the door. “Listen in?” Flynn suggested.

Reggie slapped Luke in the chest with a grin, for some reason, and then the whole group was crowding at the door, peeking through the windows on the garage. Of course, they couldn’t see the front door from there, so Julie jutted her thumb over her shoulder. “I’ll go see who it is.”

“Julie?” called her father.

Julie paused, one foot already in motion, and glanced towards her father’s voice. “Uh. Okay. Coming!” she called.

She darted from the room and Flynn crossed her arms, glancing at the space she assumed the guys were. “Y’all _are_ ghosts, aren’t you?”

The sudden lack of cold made her grin.

~~

Julie found her father on the porch with a tall blonde woman. Her eyes were sparkling, bright blue, and her hair was tugged back into a sporty ponytail. Her nose was a little crooked, like it had been broken before, and she was fidgeting with the sleeves of the flannel that was tied around her hips. Her jeans were cuffed, and the way she held herself was like a mom.

Her smile, though. When she smiled, Julie felt the air leave her lungs. There was something achingly familiar in her smile, right down to the way it creased her cheeks. “Um. Hi?” Julie offered, staring at the woman in confusion. “Are you a new neighbor or something?”

The woman’s smile softened. “Um. No, I’m not. I was uh…my s-son,” she said quickly. “He played your performance from the Orpheum for me the other night.”

Ray was staring at the woman, his arms crossed just tightly enough that Julie knew he was two steps away from going into protective Dad mode. Before he could, the guys popped onto the porch, clearly curious. Ray stiffened and then relaxed, glancing at Julie with the slightest raised eyebrow, which she responded to with a nod. He loosened up a little after that.

“So you’re…a fan,” Julie mused slowly.

The woman laughed and every single guy froze. Before Julie could question it, Alex choked out a gasp. Collapsed to his knees. Reggie and Luke were at his side in seconds, and Julie’s hands twitched in pain at not being able to do the same. “You could say that. I um…I was hoping to speak to you about your band?”

“Speak away,” Ray said, talking for the first time since he’d called Julie over.

The woman looked at him, gnawing at her lip. She took a breath. “This is coming out wrong,” she said with a shake of her head. “Let me…let me start over. My name is Stephanie Mercer.”

Alex full on sobbed and Julie clenched her fists, heart pounding and lump rising in her throat. She knew his last name. Knew who this woman was. “Okay,” she said, letting out a shaking breath. “How did um…how did you know where I lived?”

Stephanie held up her hands quickly. “I spoke to Mr. and Mrs. Patterson.” She glanced at Ray again before looking back at Julie, eyes piercing. “Luke’s parents.”

Ray finally loosened all the way and he looked to Julie. “You good here honey?”

“I’m fine,” Julie promised him. She glanced towards the guys, still clinging to a trembling Alex, and swallowed. “I’m not alone.”

He nodded and backed into the house. She knew he’d still be watching from the window – that was just what he did. She turned back to Stephanie, who had tracked her gaze to where the guys were crouched. “You spoke to Luke’s parents,” Julie repeated slowly.

Stephanie dragged her eyes back to her like it was painful. “Yes.”

“And you…” Julie hesitated, shoving her hands in her pockets. “You saw my performance at the Orpheum.”

Stephanie nodded and Julie shifted. “So why are you here?”

A hand on her shoulder, and Julie forced herself not to react as Alex leaned against her, like she was the only thing he could cling to. “Julie,” he whispered, his voice breaking.

Stephanie was fiddling with her sleeves again, looking ready to bolt. “Um. Your drummer. He…he looked…” She let out a huff and sighed, pressing her fingers to her temples. “I’m sorry, this is so dumb. I shouldn’t have-”

“Looks like Alex?” Julie said softly, and Alex’s grip tightened on her.

Stephanie’s head whipped up, studying Julie, and her shoulders slumped. “Yes,” she whispered. “I know that sounds absurd, and it’s such a terrible reason to fly here from another state, but I…I had to see.”

Julie licked her lips and finally let herself glance back at Alex. His eyes were puffy and red, his fingers tight but trembling against her. Reggie and Luke stood just behind them, looking anxious. “Can-?”

She barely got the whisper out before Alex was nodding vehemently. “Yes. Yes.”

Julie looked back at Stephanie. “It’s not. Absurd. Do you have time?”

“Y-Yes,” Stephanie said immediately, dropping her flannel sleeves and curling her fingers together. “Yes, I do. My wife isn’t expecting me back until later.”

Alex’s breath hitched behind her. “Wife,” he whispered, and when Julie turned, he could see him looking at his sister in a completely new light. She smiled and gestured Stephanie towards the garage, reaching out with wiggling fingers the moment her back was to her. Alex took her hand instantly and she squeezed as hard as she could before following.

Flynn jumped back from the window when they all walked in, her eyes landing on Stephanie in confusion. “Um. Hi?”

Stephanie smiled a little awkwardly. “Hi.”

“This is Stephanie,” Julie introduced. “Stephanie, this is my friend Flynn. Stephanie is Alex’s sister.”

Flynn’s jaw fell just a little, and Julie couldn’t blame her. Stephanie opened her mouth, ready to speak, and then blinked, twisting to Julie. “I didn’t tell you that.”

Julie gave her a half smile, stepping around to her keyboard. In her peripheral, she could see Luke and Reggie pick up their individual guitars. Alex stood, twisting his hands anxiously, but when he looked over at Julie, he seemed to relax a little. He moved to his drums – only so that he would be made visible initially, she knew. She turned her gaze back to Stephanie. “I know. He did.”

“He…” Stephanie tripped over her own words, twisting her wedding band around her finger at a rapid pace.

Julie set her hands on the keyboard, glancing up at her guitarists. “Bright?”

They nodded, and she dragged her fingers over for the opening notes. Instead of waiting for their cue, instead of making it upbeat and energetic, Reggie and Luke kept a quieter pace. Alex’s drumming was there only long enough for them to pop into existence – the moment his sister’s hands flew to her mouth, he dropped the sticks with a jarring clatter and stood, rubbing a hand over his jaw.

Stephanie’s laugh was a little disbelieving, a little stunned. Julie understood how she felt. She hummed Bright under her breath, watching as Alex crossed the room to stand in front of his sister, twisting the rainbow bracelet Flynn had made for him around and around his wrist.

Stephanie reached out and then hesitated, fingers inches from his cheek. Alex gave her a weak smile, tears already clouding his vision. “You can try,” he whispered, voice hoarse. “But it won’t work.”

She continued anyway, turning her hand so that her knuckles would have dusted against the rise of his cheek if she could have touched him. His cheek shimmered when she got too close and Stephanie took a deep, shaky breath. “’Lex,” she murmured.

Julie wished she could leave. Wished that she could give them some privacy. Flynn seemed to think the same – she caught Julie’s eye and nodded to the door, mouthing ‘house’ as she snuck from the garage. Julie glanced down to focus on the music she was playing. She couldn’t give complete privacy, but she’d try her best. She could see that Reggie and Luke had already turned their backs, standing side by side as they played, improv-ing the song a little as it carried on past it’s standard run time.

Alex’s chuckle was watery. “Steph. I’m…I’m sorry.”

She choked out an incredulous laugh. “For what, you ass?”

“Leaving,” Alex whispered. He was smiling, but he was crying. “I’m… _so_ sorry for leaving.”

Stephanie’s hands lifted, hovering over his shoulders before falling in frustration. “Don’t apologize,” she ordered. “Mom and Dad were the problem, not you. Never you, okay?”

Alex’s lips quivered and he wrapped his arms tightly around himself. “Do you um…do you see them? At all?”

His eyes flickered to her wedding ring, then back up to her face. Stephanie was just staring at him, like she was trying to memorize his features. “No. No, they haven’t spoken to me since I came out in college.”

Alex’s smile widened a little. “I’m proud of you,” he said, gentle.

For some reason, that made even more tears rise in Stephanie’s eyes. She fumbled for her purse, not looking away from her brother until she had to unlock her phone. She pulled up her camera roll, slid around until she was standing next to Alex in front of him. “That’s Sophia,” she murmured, pulling up the most recent picture of her daughter – bouncy black curls, a squishable nose, the darkest brown eyes and chubbiest cheeks Alex had ever seen. “She’s two. Her mom couldn’t afford to take care of her, so we adopted her. She still has weekly visits.”

The guitars got louder, and Stephanie glanced up to see Luke and Reggie shamelessly edging closer, eyes on the phone curiously. She chuckled and beckoned them closer, turning the phone so they could see. Reggie let out a gentle coo, and Luke’s grin was bright. She could see the glassiness in their eyes, and it made her heart ache.

She turned back to Alex, swallowing as she switched photos. “That’s Alexander. We adopted him when he was an infant.”

Alex didn’t speak, studying the brown haired, green eyed boy on the screen in front of him. He was missing a front tooth, and freckles scattered over his cheeks in a galaxy of patterns. In the picture, he was proudly holding up an A+ spelling test. He finally dragged his eyes away from the phone and back to his sister. “You-?”

“Of course I did,” she whispered, glancing back at the other guys and showing them that photo as well before pulling the phone back. “Of _course_ I did.”

Alex’s fingers trembled, and then Reggie was there, clinging to his hand, still tugging at his bass strings with his free one. The sound was a little off beat, a little twangy without his other hand creating the notes, but it was quiet enough that it wasn’t bothersome. He squeezed, tightly, and Alex had never been so grateful for his bandmates.

“A-And this is my wife, Claire,” she murmured, pulling up a picture of a tanned woman, dark brown ringlets blowing in the wind, hands tucked into the pockets of a pair of fitted slacks and a suit jacket slung over one shoulder while she laughed. “We met in college. She’s from Lyon. France,” she clarified, just in case. “Been married for 11 years. Well…in some states. Country wide it’s been 5 years, but we got married in Massachusetts so…yeah.”

She trailed off, turning her phone off and tucking it in her pocket. Reggie squeezed Alex’s hand one more time and started to pull away, but Alex held firm. Luke joined Julie at the piano, sitting next to her as they continued to play. The song no longer sounded like Bright, instead something completely improvised, not that anyone was really paying attention anymore.

“Um…” Stephanie hesitated, twisting her wedding ring. “The kids and Claire are here? We’re here for ten days. I-If you wanted to…Claire knows why we’re here.”

Alex stared at her, his free hand tapping at his thigh rhythmically. “I’d love to,” he whispered. “If you think it wouldn’t freak her out too much. Or…or Alexander. Does he…?”

“Know who he’s named after?” Stephanie said with a sad smile. “Yeah. But um…” She took a breath and glanced away. “Mom and Dad…burned a lot of pictures after you left. Didn’t tell me. So he doesn’t really know you like I’d like him to.”

“My parents,” Luke said quickly, breaking the tension.

Stephanie looked up, eyebrows lifting, and he offered a smile. “My parents. They have tons of old photos of us in albums. I’m sure if you asked they’d give you some.”

Stephanie shook her head. “No, no, I couldn’t ask them to part with those.”

Julie’s lips quirked. “You guys know photo scanning is a thing, right? We’ll just take them to a CVS or Walgreens or something. Then you both have a copy.”

Alex let go of Reggie’s hand suddenly, patting down his body until his hands settled on his fanny pack, unzipping it and fumbling inside the inner pouch. “I took this when I left home,” he said, tugging out a polaroid that still looked nearly brand new – it had technically only been taken two years ago in Alex’s timeline.

Stephanie reached out, sucking in a breath as the photo passed from his intangible fingers to her tangible ones without falter. It was a Christmas photo – Alex, 16, Stephanie, 11. He had an arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders, both of them on the floor in front of the Christmas tree with presents in their laps and goofy grins on their faces. Stephanie choked as she stared at it, before looking up. Alex was staring at the photo with a bit of wistfulness, and her heart tugged. “We’ll scan it,” she said, glancing at Julie. She pushed it back at Alex, shivering as his fingers danced over her and ghosted through her skin. “You deserve to keep it.”

He stepped closer to her, one hand lifting to ease against a strand of hair. To her shock, he moved it back, tucked it behind her ear. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you,” he whispered. “Even if it wasn’t my fault. I would have liked…I would have liked to be there. For everything.”

Stephanie dragged in a shaky breath, her vision blurred, and she glanced over at Julie. “You can touch them?” she asked softly.

Julie nodded, leaning against Luke’s shoulder as proof, and Stephanie took a breath. “Give him a hug for me when I leave, okay?”

Her voice crackled, and Alex swallowed hard. “When do you want me to come visit?” he asked, because he could see the way that Julie was starting to flex her fingers, how Reggie kept tugging the wrong strings. They’d been playing nonstop for almost thirty minutes with no breaks.

“Any time. Tomorrow? For lunch? Can you…I mean, can you communicate without-?” she gestured at Julie.

Alex’s smile was lopsided and sad. “With a pen and paper. I can talk if I’m playing an instrument, but you won’t be able to see me.”

“We have a gig on Friday too,” Julie piped up. “At 7. Marzel’s Pizza.”

“We’ll be there,” Stephanie promised. “Julie, do you mind if I leave you my number?”

Julie shook her head and Stephanie dug into her bag, tugging out an old receipt and a pen. She scribbled the information down and set it on top of Julie’s keyboard before turning back to her brother. She took a breath, searching him all over. “Don’t ghost me,” she mumbled, and that put a grin on his face. “Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” he whispered, lifting a hand and very gently flicking one of the earrings she was wearing. It swayed with his touch, and Stephanie nodded. Blew him a kiss, and then glanced at the others.

“Thank you,” she said firmly. “For being with him. Looking after him.”

Luke’s smile was crooked and a little sad. “He looks after us more.”

Stephanie chuckled and left with one last backwards glance. The moment she was out the door, Julie lifted her hands off the keyboard and darted for Alex, tugging him into the firmest hug she could muster. His hands curled in her sweater, his nose pressed to her cheek, and moments later the guys were joining them, wrapping their arms tightly around one another.

Alex couldn’t help but feel a little guilty – he got his sister back. Luke had somewhat fixed his problems with his parents, but he couldn’t speak to them. Reggie had no idea where his family even was. And Julie…well, she definitely couldn’t see her mom. But he got his sister.

He got his _sister_. And a sister in-law. A niece and a nephew.

And, Alex reasoned, dragging Julie in even closer, feeling Reggie’s lips on his temple and Luke’s forehead against his own, he had some pretty great friends to boot.

“Will you help me write a song?” he whispered, his voice crackling embarrassingly. “For Friday?”

The group pulled apart, and Julie’s hands cupped his cheeks tenderly. She was crying, but she was smiling as bright as the sun. “You didn’t even have to ask.”

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly this fic mostly came about because so many comments wanted to see a follow up to Like Family with Alex's sister, so if anyone else has any thoughts or prompts for future fics, I'm happy to hear them (no promises they'll get written, ofc, but I'm a sucker for a good prompt or scene fixer lol, especially if they involve wholesome friendship or found family)


End file.
